Return to Poveglia
by SongsofPsyche1945
Summary: A Ghost Adventures Story. Zak Bagans/OC ROMANCE. A girl desperate for a new beginning joins the GAC team as they travel back to the Island of Hell (aka Poveglia). What secrets will this second visit unloose? FOLLOW MY TUMBLR at songsofpsyche13.
1. Chapter 1

I know I have two other stories that are being written right now, but I can't seem to get this one out of my head. I love procrasti-writing, it's so much fun! (Sarcastic sigh). Anyway, please enjoy and I promise I will get back to work on the other two!

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction, and has no association to GAC or any of it's members. All events, thoughts, memories of the characters are completely made up. The only thing I own is my OC, Katie Ann.

888

It all started with Letter.

Nick watched Zak's face closely as Aaron read it out loud to the crew:

"Dear Ghost Adventures Crew,

I've been meaning to write a letter for a while now, I can't tell you how many times I started and stopped. But I knew that my story needed to be told so I finally gathered up the courage to write. This letter is threefold; first of all, I want to tell you how great your show is. I love the history, I love hearing the EVPs, and basically everything else about it. Second; I want to say thank you for sparking my fascination with history, without this spark I wouldn't be where I am today. And lastly, I want to tell you my own paranormal experience that I had while I was going through a very dark time.

Ghost Adventures inspired me to follow my fascination with history, urban decay, the past and ghosts. The show sparked my interest in archeology. I absolutely love figuring out what happened, why it was left like it was, who lived there and if anyone still lived there as a spirit, which was why I decided to major in Archeology. I decided to get my degree from Brown University, which had an extensive anthropology and archeology program. Through this program, I was able to travel to some amazing places that were just packed full of history waiting to be discovered. My first real site that I worked on was Fort Moss, VA. We actually found the base to one of the first windmills in the United States. It was a very exciting discovery! I also learned that archeology is not all Indiana Jones, it is extremely technical and there were times where the most we could do was stake out the diameter of the site and wait for clearance from the head of the dig.

My favorite episode is Poveglia, because its in Italy, and after I saw that episode I made a vow to myself that I would one day go to Italy and visit some of the greatest archeological sites of all time. When I started the archeology program my dream was to one day go to Italy (maybe not Poveglia though...) and visit the old city ruins. I was able to fulfill that dream when I studied abroad my junior year. I stayed in Rome, but often would visit the abandoned ruins of Cittavechia. These ruins were well out of the way of tourists, and unlike big archie sites like Pompeii or the Coliseum, the groundsmen allowed visitors to walk off the paths and explore the ruins without constraint. It was amazing! I also traveled to several other ancient cities while I was in Italy; Tuscany, Venice, and Pompeii. I loved every minute of it. I graduated from the program in December 2013 with a B.A in Anthropology with a concentration in Archeology. I knew exactly what I wanted to do, and now I can say that I am one step closer to becoming an archeologist!

So, I've talked about some of my experiences with urban decay, and archeology sites, which are definitely a big factor in Ghost Adventures, but what this letter really is about is ghosts/spirits, and the personal experience that I had with one while living at Brown. I was going through a difficult time. During the first semester of my sophomore year, a fellow student assaulted me in my dorm (It really scared me and kind of turned my whole world upside down but, I won't get into the messy details). After this incident, I was having a hard time sleeping at night in my room because I was afraid that the person who hurt me would come back in the night. One night, as I was lying in bed, trying to gather the courage to sleep. I was feeling very anxious, and afraid. Suddenly I felt a very warm presence. It was like someone or something was watching over me. Then I heard, as plain as day in my ear, "Do not be afraid, you are safe now." It was a female voice, and it made me feel safe. After that night I had no trouble falling asleep, and I truly felt that I was being protected. I heard the voice several more times at Saint Mary's, each time it provided me comfort with the same not only did that, but it also made me feel more confident. For the first time since the incident, I was able to walk through campus feeling safe. It was like this enormous weight was being lifted off of my shoulders. I was free of my anxieties; I could go wherever I wanted without being afraid. This was an incredible accomplishment for me—to be able to be out and about without feeling anxious—and I truly believe that this being was protecting me.

I don't know who this voice belonged to, or whether it was a spirit at all. Brown is a catholic school, which a chapel on campus that dates back to the 1950s. There are only two records of ghosts on campus; the ghost of a cow living in the top story of the freshman dorms, and the ghost in the top story of the library. Both of these ghosts have been recorded as male, so the female voice that I heard couldn't have been either of them. I like to believe that the voice I heard belonged to a benevolent spirit, a guardian angel-like being who wanted to watch over me and protect me. And after watching, and reading about Zak's experience with Anna Corbain at Preston Castle, I now know that what I felt and heard was truly trying to protect me.

I do hope that this letter doesn't come across as sad, or depressing. I wanted to write it to tell you how much your show has helped me, not to tell you my sad life story. I did go through some tough times, but I made it through to the other side and now I am a stronger person. If it hadn't been for my faith, and for my passion and do not think I would be where I am today.

I love your show, its helped be over come many obstacles and has helped me realized my passions. It has really touched me on a personal level and I just wanted to say thank you for all the things you do!

Best Regards,

Katie Ann Templeton

P.S:

If you are ever in need of a historical archeologist, please please let me know!"

Aaron pulled off his reading glasses and started at Nick and Zak.

"Well. You don't get a ton of fan mail like that everyday. She didn't even confess her love to you, Zak. Ha!" he said with a smile.

Zak smiled a little, but Nick knew something was troubling his friend. Whenever they heard about physical abuse, rape, bullying, or attacks, Zak always got very quiet, and a pained expression (much like the one on his face right now) would appear. He never talked about it through, and usually he was the first one to change the channel, or the subject. Despite Zak's macho, bad boy appearance he was very sensitive about certain topics, domestic abuse being on of them. And it sounded like this Katie Ann Templeton had been through hell and back because of this one "friend" that hurt her.

"You alright, Zak?" Nick asked, sometimes Zak would open up to them but other times he absolutely refused to talk about it.

Zak shrugged.

"What was the post script? Could you read that again?" he then asked.

"If you are ever in need of a historical archeologist, please let me know." Aaron read from the letter.

Zak nodded. "It sounds like she could use a get away from Brown for a while. Why don't we forward the letter on to HR? Who knows, they may like her."

Nick nodded, "Sure thing, Zak. I'll leave it on Cindy's desk."

"Great."

Zak stood up, "Well, uh. I have to go check something. I'll be back."

Then he left out the back door without saying anything else.

Aaron looked at Nick, "Is he acting odd?"

Nick shrugged, "Who knows? He's The Zak. It's impossible to tell what he's thinking sometimes."

"I totally hear ya, man."

888

Katie Ann Templeton, also known as Kat, stared down at the reply letter in front of her in astonishment. When she had written a fan letter to Ghost Adventures she never had expected a reply, let alone a job offer.

She read over it again for the thirteenth time;

Dear Ms. Templeton,

Thank you for writing to us. We were quite impressed with your letter, and with your paranormal experiences. It has come to our attention that we need an archeologist on our staff, and after reviewing your letter we would like to consider you for the position.

If you are interested in this position, we request that you send your cover letter and resume to careers .

Thank you very much, and we hope to hear from you soon.

Best Regards,

Cindy Crepeman

GAC Human Resources

It almost seemed too good to be true.

Her fingers trembled as she updated her resume and cover letter. If she got this job, she could finally move out, start new, and feel safe for the first time in her life. She was not in the most ideal situation at the moment. Her current roommate was an abusive sporadic drunk who, when not hitting on her, took advantage of her at every opportune moment. He also happened to be her ex.

The worst part was that if she moved out, she would be homeless. San Francisco, where she lived had a lot of perks but it was also the most expensive cities to live in. Her minimum wage bookstore clerk job barely covered the basics of living.

Kat felt a sense of relief as she hit the send button, and silently prayed that this wonderful opportunity would present itself at its best.

888

Please review! Thank you for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

Kat stood infront of the Ghost Adventures Crew headquarters and smiled. Today was her first day of work.

She did it.

She finally did it.

She still couldn't believe it. Her old life was gone, and a new one was just beginning. A new one without the constant threat of being hit, or sworn at, or shoved. She hadn't found an apartment yet, she was still living out of boxes in the long term living hotel she found on the outskirts of the city. For the first time in her life she was free to do what she wanted without anyone holding her back.

It may take some time to get used to it.

Gathering up her courage and pushing down her anxiety, Kat walked up to the front door and opened it. She was greeted by a friendly looking secretary, who offered her a beverage and a smile. Then she was told to wait, the crew would be in shortly.

Kat sat down and sipped her tea nervously. She was anxious about making a good first impression. She hadn't met the team when she had interviewed with HR because they were traveling for the show.

What if they didn't like her? What if they thought she was too nerdy? What If they thought she was weird?

She still flinched at unexpected movement, jumped and shied away from the softest touch. She hated herself for it, but she hated the man (her ex) that caused these reactions more.

And the worst part was, she had to disclose her anxiety to HR. They couldn't have her flinching and twitching on camera, so the crew had to know. That's how they explained it to her. They knew everything, that she was abused, trapped, raped. She knew they had to know though. She had written about it in her letter, how could they not know? But it still made her nervous that they knew. What would they treat her like? Would they tip toe around her? Isolate her? Ignore her?

The door opened with a bang, make her jump and spill her tea down the front of her leg. Kat winced, this was a great start. She started rummaging to get a tissue when a voice made her look up;

"You must be Katie Ann. "

"Hi." Kat squeaked. Standing up she fumbled with her tea, the bag and the tissue.

"Yes. That's me. I'm tissues—I mean Tea. Kat. You can call me Kat." Kat stuttered.

"Well, Tissues Tea Kat. It's nice to finally meet you! I'm Aaron, and this is Nick" Aaron introduced himseld, and then smiled.

Kat relaxed just a bit, they seemed nice.

Nick smiled and held out his hand, "Its great to finally meet you. HR was so excited, you're all they talked about."

Kat accepted his hand and shook it quickly, hoping to conceal the tremor in her hand.

"Im so excited to be here." She said.

"You letter was quite impressive. It takes courage to send something like that. That's why we want you as part of our team." Nick said with a smile.

"So, let's start with the tour! This is the main office, you've met Denise, out lovely secretary." Aaron started, motioning with his hands to the space, and then to Denise.

"Zak's here too, he's just finishing up a phone call outside." Nick added, and then motioned for Kat to follow him into the studio.

The tour was sweet and short. Kate met the other techie, Billy and was showed where her office would be.

She would be in charge of researching the places that they were going to investigate.

Kate never felt so happy, it almost like it was a dream.

The last thing Nick did before they left the office was, he gave her a sweatshirt with the GAC logo.

"Welcome to the team, Kat."

888

When Zak Bagans walked through the GAC office door to meet the new member, he was a little shocked.

Katie-Ann Templeton was not at all what Zak expected.

He expected someone who was timid, shy and almost mouse-like.

Katie-Ann was anything but that. She was tall, and had a head full of tumbling curls. She smiled when she saw him, and shook his hand with confidence. She was nothing like what he expected. Not at all.

He decided right then and there that he didn't like her. He hated that she still smiled, and looked _normal _after everything that she'd been through, he hated that she wore an engagement ring (who was her Fiance? Did he come with her to Vegas? Why wasn't he here with her? How come she was capable of finding love when he, Zak Bagan's couldn't?), he hated how well she got a long with Nick and Aaron, he even hated the tiny way she flinched when Nick reached over to touch her shoulder. Why did he even allow them to add this girl to the team? This was a mistake. A huge, awful mistake!

"Zak?" a voice brought him out of his mind and back to reality.

"Hmm?"

"We're going to grab some Starbucks, we're basically done for the night. Want to come?" Aaron asked

Zak shrugged, he probably should but he didn't want to.

"Come on, man. It'll be fun." Nick added

Zak sighed, "Alright, let's go." He grumbled and then stepped out the doorway.

This was not going as planned. Not at all.

888

They all sat around the little starbucks booth, talking and chatting about this and that. Katie-Ann seemed to really warm up to Nick and Aaron.

Zak decided it was time to address the elephant in the room.

"And congratulations by the way, when's the big day?" Zak asked, pointing to the ring on Kat's left finger.

Kat's face fell, and Zak knew immediately that he had hit a sore spot with her.

"Oh um. I'm not getting married—I mean I was—but it didn't work out." She stumbled over her words and blushed.

"What happened?" Zak asked, "If you don't mind me asking." He added.

Kat thought for a moment, looking at the diamond on her finger.

"He passed away, a few weeks before the ceremony." She said softly.

"Oh my gosh. I had no idea, I'm so sorry." Zak said, shocked that something like this happened to Kat, then embarrassed that he had actually felt jealous of the guy who had given it to her.

This was not going as planned. Not at all.

888


	3. Chapter 3

Kat stares at her phone, 21 missed phone calls and 11 voicemails. Would Michael (her ex from San Francisco) ever stop calling? He said he missed her, that he wanted to try again, and then he started playing the blame game and saying that he was disrespecting Aidan's memories by leaving California, and that she was a coward for running away.

She rolled her eyes and then looking back at the screen she was editing.

Aidan would have wanted her to move on with her life.

A few had weeks passed, and Kat was beginning to settle into her new life, and was truly wonderful. For the first time she could smile, and be happy without worrying about anything. It was like a burden had been lifted from her shoulders.

The crew was amazing, despite her worries they never questioned her, or called her out when she flinched away, at least Nick and Aaron didn't.

Zak was another story. He was the only one she couldn't quite figure out. It was like he was almost scared of her, or something. He never stayed long if she was in the office editing by herself, and he always talked to Nick or Aaron. Never her.

Nick said not to worry about it, that Zak would come around on his own time. He was still getting used to the idea of a forth member.

Kat also realized that there was more to ghost hunting that what the audience say on television. They only used about 20% of what they shot during the lockdown. Nick started teaching her the ropes of editing with final cut pro when he saw she had a knack for computers. They needed all the help they could get, since it was just the 3 of them and Billy. No wonder they were so eager to hire her, they needed somebody to edit down all of the footage. It was definitely busywork, but Kat was grateful for it. It kept her mind busy, and away from the constant texts and voicemails Michael.

"Hey Kat." A voice says from behind her. Kat jumps before she turns around and winces as she feels her anxiety rise.

"It's just Nick though, the nicest guy ever. Why do you always flinch away from everyone?" she thinks to herself. Angry that still after all these weeks she still flinched at the slightest noise.

"Hey" she answers, hoping that he didn't notice the flinch.

"how's it going?" he asks as he walks up to her.

"Not bad, I'm going through the B roll now."

"That's great!"

He puts a hand on the back of he chair and leans in to see the screen. Kat flinches again with a shark intake of breath. She's still not used to people—men being nice. She still expects violence even though her ex is long gone.

Nick pulls his hand away.

"Sorry." They both say at the same time.

Nick then pulls over a chair. He, unlike Zak, never comments about theme moments. Instead he adjusts himself to make sure she's comfortable. He never pries, or asks any questions and she truly appreciates it.

"Let's see that footage." He says gently. Kat notices that he has adjusted the chair so he is in her full view, and is sitting far enough away to ease her anxiety, but close enough to still see the screen.

As they are watching the footage, Aaron arrives with sandwiches. He barges in with a bang, cackling about something he saw at Subway. Kat feels herself flinch again at the loud noises. Aaron doesn't mean it, he had a naturally loud voice, but that doesn't stop the flashes of violence that are playing through Kats head like a bad horror movie.

"You alright?" Nick asks softly.

Kat nods silently.

"Sorry, did I scare you? Sorry Katie I forgot…" Aaron says in all honesty. He's a good guy behind all the jokes and loudness.

"It's alright. I'm being silly." Kat says, repeating Zak's favorite phrase that he says to her. She shakes her head and clenches her hands into fists to keep them from shaking. Zak did not understand. It was the one sore spot about this job. He wasn't necessarily mean, but he didn't time the effort to be nice. It was typical frat boy behavior; he never looked deeper then he had to. And although he sympathized with Kat, it never dawned on him that there were the after affects of abuse as well. Every time she flinched from her he told her to stop being silly. Like it was a game she was playing for attention.

And he never apologized.

It was too bad, because she had always thought Zak Bagans was kind of cute, and when he wasn't putting on an act, he was actually quite charming-

"You're not being silly." Nick says softly, looking up at her with kind eyes. Kat looks away from him.

Aaron puts the bag of sandwiches down and walks over to them. He waits until Kat looks at him and then sits down next to Nick.

"Editing B roll?" he asks, looking at the screen.

"Yup." Kat answers with a small smile.

"She's become a real pro at final cut. I only started teaching her a few says ago, and she's already rendering footage." Nick says with a hint of pride.

Aaron smiles, "Who'd have thought our archeologist was also a computer wiz. You wear quite a lot of hats, Katie Ann."

Kat smiled, "Thanks!"

The door opened for a third time and Zak stepped through with his dog, Gracie. He was wearing basketball shorts and a t-shirt, and for once his hair wasn't all gelled up.

"Hey guys. Hey Kat." He said, giving them a wave as he walked over.

"Gracie!" Aaron shouted with delight, and then rolled off his chair and onto the ground to play with her. Kat giggled a little and shook her head. He was a little goofy.

"Aaron brought sandwiches, and Kat was just about to show me the B-roll she edited." Nick filled Zak in as he pulled up a chair on the other side of Kat.

Zak smiled, "Your becoming quite a pro at this editing stuff."

"Nick's a good teacher" Kat answers, watching as Zak sat down. Just then, she saw something on Zak's thigh that made her heart stop; his shorts had caught on the chair, causing the fabric to bunch, revealing two straight edge rows of raised red cuts, and just as many scars. She knew enough about self-harm and cutting to understand what those scars meant.

Kat acts in an instant, smoothly placing the sweatshirt that covered her lap over his leg as she reached over him to grab her bottle of water. Covering the scars before Nick or Aaron noticed. She didn't want to cause a scene, not with something this personal.

Zak freezes, and for the first time since Kat was hired they made eye contact. Kat could almost hear his inner monologue; she saw? She knows? Oh my god she knows. Nick and Aaron were busy with the sandwiches- they hadn't seen anything. It was just them; Kat and Zak. Kat nods her head slightly, and then gives his arm a slight squeeze to let him know that it was okay, he was okay and that they would talk about this later.

She then pointed to the screen, "I thought maybe we could play some of that native flute music over this section, since the interview is with the chief." She says, changing the subject.

"Yeah. Yeah good." Zak answers quietly.

"Do you want a sandwich?" Nick asks, looking over at Kat.

Zak stands up, "I'll be right back. Bathroom." He says, and quickly heads towards the corridor.

Kat notices that he left her sweatshirt on his chair. She looks back up at the screen. What now? She thought. This was serious, and also quite delicate. If she told someone right now about what she had seen, Zak would certainly feel like he was being attacked. She needed to make sure he was okay without drawing attention to the matter because he needed to understand that he could trust her. Once he did, then he could get help. Should she text him? Surely he had his phone with him? She had to be discrete though; anything like "we need to talk" would scare him away. She cursed herself for the way she had been acting. If she had just been more open with him!

It turned out she didn't need to text him, because just then her phone buzzes and a message pops up from Zak; "Thanks."

Kat smiles a little and replies back, "You're welcome. You okay?"

"Kat? Sandwich?" Nick asks again, Kat looks up from her phone.

"Sure, I'll have a half. Thanks so much."

"No problem." Nick answers, and then he walks back over and sits in his chair. Aaron joins a few minutes later.

"Where'd Zak go?"

"Bathroom." Kat answers.

"Did he want a sandwich?"

"I think so."

Nick takes a bit of his, and then points to the screen.

"This is great so far. But I have some exciting news to tell you—Zak! Just in time!" Nick says, then motions Zak back over to sit. Zak smiles like normal and sits.

"What's up?"

Nick grins, "Pogvelia. It's for sale, which means that for the first time in 15 years, it's not under Italian government control."

Aaron's face morphs into a grin and he laughs, "Are you saying what I'm thinking?!"

"Yes!"

"Oh my god, dude. We have to go back!" Zak exclaims, clapping his hands and making Kat jump. For once he doesn't say anything.

Kat smiles, "Ever since I saw that episode, I've wanted to go. Do you think we could do it?"

Zak smiled, "Absolutely. We're going back to Italy!"

888

Please Review!


	4. An Announcement!

This is not the chapter you are looking for, but this website does not have a good way for authors to communicate with their followers! I just wanted to announce that I do have a very special only for my fanfic tumblr! If you follow it I will post sneak peaks, drawings, musings and more! It's also a great way to submit prompts (and even your own fan art!)

Please please follow me, it will be worth it I promise!

I am at: songsofpsyche13 on tumblr just search me and you will find it!

You can also hashtag (#) any of the titles of my fanfics and they will pop up.

Thanks so much!

Now, back to the real writing!


	5. Chapter 5

Later that night, Kat stared anxiously at the computer screen. She was supposed to be checking the airlines for tickets, but her mind keeps traveling back to Zak. Would he stay and talk with her about what she saw? Or would he leave early to avoid talking with her?

Nick and Aaron were working together on the other macbook in the office across from her, but they looked ready to wrap up. Zak was…where? She flipped around and saw he was recording voice overs in the studio, just like he always did this time of night.

A few moments later Nick and Aaron emerged from the office, laptops packed and secured in their bags.

"I'm going to keep running the EVP sessions later. Veronique wants me home in time for dinner." Nick announces, tapping the laptop case. Kat smiles at him, his family was always so cute.

"I'm gonna head out too. You'll be okay here?" Aaron asks

Kat nods, "Yeah. Zak's still recording in the studio." Kat answers

"Cool, let him know that Nick's taking the pro home. Maybe we can all meet for drinks tonight, yeah?" Aarons continues

"I'll let him know." Kat tells him with a smile.

Kat turns back to the computer as they shuffle out, laughing and talking with each other. Gracie walks over to her, her bell jingling softly and places her head in Kat's lap.

"Hey Gracie." Kat murmurs softly, rubbing the dog's ears affectionately.

"She likes that." A voice says from behind Kat.

Kat jumps, and turns to see Zak standing a few feet from her.

"She's such a sweetie." Kat says, smiling a little. She feels slightly nervous, this was the first time her and Zak have ever been alone together. He always went out of his way to avoid being with her, and here he was finally talking.

Zak walks towards her, and then motions to the chair.

"May I?" he asks softly

Kat nods, Zak sits.

They sit in silence for a few moments, not looking at each other or saying anything. Finally Zak clears his throat.

"I just wanted to thank you—for earlier and for not making a scene or anything. And before you say anything else, those were old. Very old. I haven't—you know—in a while. I'll be okay. I'm fine."

Kat can almost see all the red flags popping up as he finishes that sentence. Yes, she saw scars but she also knew those cuts were new. He is definitely still actively doing it, and he is definitely not okay or fine. She just nods her head, she can tell he's nervous and a little stressed. She doesn't want to make it worse.

"Alright." She finally says, then she looks up at him and continues "Just, if you ever want to talk about anything…my door is always open." She tells him a smile, and hoping he knows she means it.

"Please don't tell anyone…I can't—" he shakes his and, and Kat knows he's thinking about what would happen if anybody found out.

"I promise I wont, but only if you in return promise me that the next time you feel like doing this you call me first. I know it doesn't look like it but, Ive been through something like this. And I know it helps a while lot when you don't have to deal with it by yourself." She tells him, and he looks up at her.

After a few moments of thinking it over he nods, "Alright. I'll ask you to talk to me." He finally says.

"You promise?"

"I promise."

Kat held out her hand, "Pinky swear?"

He smiles a little, then grips her pinky with his.

"Pinky swear."

"Good."

888

Please review and follow me on tumblr!


	6. Chapter 6

Kat's phone rings and she stares at it with blurry eyes. What time was it? She looks at the clock, its 12:30am, South Carolina time. They had been traveling for most of the day. They would catch their connecting flight to Italy in the morning.

They were finally traveling to Pogvelia.

Kat had proved that she was a valuable member of the team by gathering archeological evidence and conducting lots of interviews with her Italian cousins.

Now they just needed to get to the damn island.

"Hello?" Kat answers, trying to sound like she wasn't just jolted awake.

"Kat, I think I need you to bring me to the E.R. But, NO QUESTIONS ASKED, okay?" Zak says, and she can hear the panic in his voice.

They started the No Questions Asked a few weeks ago, when she had gotten herself stuck in an ATM vestibule downtown. Kat was too embarrassed to tell anyone that she got herself stuck, so she called Zak –the person who make the least fun of her- and told him, "I need you to come downtown to the Bank on 4th street, bring your credit card and NO QUESTIONS ASKED, okay?"

And he had done it. He rescued her from that dumb ATM vestibule and made her feel less embarrassed by talking about random stuff all the way home. And he hasn't brought it up since.

Everyone knew about the No Questions Asked policy. It started with that episode of HIMYM, and then it just took off, as pop culture tends to do. Aaron and Zak had watched that episode together, and afterward they turned to each other and said, "That's a good policy to have. Let's add it to the GAC code?"

Aaron had laughed and teased Kat. Like she would ever do anything crazy enough to pull the NQA card.

Who'd have thought Kat had to use it first?

So technically she now owed Zak one.

"Umm sure. Are you okay?" Kat asks.

"NO QUESTIONS ASKED, KATIE-ANN!"

"Right. Okay, sorry. I'll be right over."

She stands up and yawn. After quickly dressing in yoga pants and a jacket, she quickly grabs her wallet, phone and room card and walks out to Zak's room. The door is wedged open, but she knocks softly anyway.

"Hello? I'm here!" she says, entering quietly.

"Zak?"

"I'm here." He emerges from the bathroom, wearing a sweatshirt that is badly concealing a bloody towel wrapped around his forearm. His is face pale, and she could see his one good arm shaking as he looks for his keys and wallet. the other arm was tucked tightly against his chest. He sees Kat and gives her a strained smile.

"Thanks so much, Katie."

"You're welcome. Ready to go?" she asks.

He nods, and follows Kat out the door. They walked down the hallway in silence. Kat desperately wished she could ask what happened, but she could tell he was nervous and she didn't want to scare him off with too many questions.

The car ride over to the ER in the rental car felt awkward and heavy. Zak sniffed a few times, but barely said a word. When they finally parked, Kat turned off the car off but doesn't open the door.

"I know you said no questions asked, and I respect that." she finally says quietly

"…but I just want to let you know that you can tell me what happened. I'm not going to judge you, or tell anyone. I just want to help."

"You can help by not talking anymore. I said no questions asked for a reason. Now let me out." he says too harshly. Kat sighs and blinks back sudden tears. She unlocks the car doors and step outside.

She silently follows behind him as he walks into the ER and checks himself in. Then she sits down in one of the chairs and wait.

A half an hour later a doctor approaches Kat.

"Are you with Mr. Bagans?" he asks, Kat nods.

"Is everything okay?"

The doctor just frowns, "I need to ask you a few questions, please follow me."

He motions for Kat to follow him into a private room. He sits down, and Kat can see that his eyes are grave.

"Has Mr. Bagans ever admitted to hurting himself? Inflicting wounds, anything like that?" he asks. Kat knows that they cant admit him unless he confesses that he put the cuts there himself. He could totally lie his way out of this and there would be nothing the doctors could do about it.

"He has never admitted to anything. No." she answers truthfully.

"Are you sure?"

"Look, I'm just his tech assistant. He doesn't talk to me very much about anything besides work stuff." she answers.

The doctor frowns, but then nods. "Alright. Here's my card, if he ever does we have a good program here that would help him."

Kat takes it. "Thank you."

"He's in room 102. I think they are done, you may go see him if you want."

Then he leaves. Kat hesitates, should she go to room 102? Yes. No. Maybe. Kat doesnt know anything anymore because he's never snapped at her like that. And it scares her to think what he would do if she just showed up

She walks back over to the waiting room, and sit down.

Zak emerges 15 minutes later, left arm covered in white bandages. Kat watches him as he checks out with the nurse, and then walks over to wear she is sitting.

Kat looks up at him, "Ready to go?" she asks softly. Zak nods, and Kat cant tell if he's still mad or not. They walk silently over to the car, and Kat unlocks it with her button. Zak gets in without saying a word.

The drive back to the hotel is compleley silent. Kat pulls into the parking garage and parks a spot, then turns the car off and unlock the doors. All while not saying a word.

Kat makes a gesture get out but the Zak grabs her hand and squeezes it gently. Kat flinches slightly but lets him keep his hold. Zak looks at her with glassy eyes.

He smiles a little, "Thanks, Katie." he says quietly.

"Your welcome."

"Not just for tonight, but for everything. And Im sorry for snapping at you earlier. I was stressed, and scared. I know you meant well."

"Please dont worry. And my offer still stands, if you ever want to talk about anything, my door is always open." She tells him, squeezing his hand in return.

"Thanks." he says, he then gets out of the car and starts walking towards the hotel. Kat jumps out, locks the car and walks after him.

"Hey! You know what this means, right?" She asks him, catching up.

He turns, "What?"

Kat laughs a little, "Now you owe me a No Questions Asked. And I'm a bit of a wild child, after that incident with the ATM vestibule, who knows what you'll have to do to rescue me next." she tells him,. He chuckles, "You are too funny, Kat."

He opens the door for Kat, "So, what were you doing in there?"

"No questions asked! It still stands!"

888

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